Tread for boots and shoes



July 28, 1925.

I w. HQ CLARKE TREAD FOR Boows AND SHOES Filed July 16, 1923 Patented July 28, 1925.

UNITED STATES \VALTEB H. CLARKE, OF TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA.

TREAD non BOOTS AND. SHOES.

Application filed July 16, 1923. Serial No. 651,907.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER H. CLARKE, of the city of Toronto, in the county of York, Province of Ontario, Canada, a citizen of the United States of America, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Treads for Boots and Shoes, of Which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to treads attached to heels and soles of boots and shoes of the type manufactured of rubber or rubber substitutes, and the object of my invention is to devise a tread of this type which will require aminimum of trimming when fitted to the shoe, which may be used on shoes of various sizes within predetermined limits and thus enable the shoemaker to reduce the number of sizes to be carried in stock, which will require less stock to manufacture, which is adapted to readily accommodate itself to inequalities in the surface to which it is to be secured, and which will, particularly in the case of the heel tread, have a tendency, when placed in position on the shoe, to remain there until nailing is effected.

I attain my object by means of the constructions hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of the under side of a heel tread, constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 a plan view of the upper side of the same;

Fig. 3 a plan view of the under side of a modified form of heel tread; and

Fig. 4 a section on the line l4 in Fig. 1.

The heel tread 1 in plan is preferably formed of substantially U-shape, having the channel 2 formed between the legs thereof.

The heel will be shaped to fit the largest shoe for which it is intended. When the heel is to be applied to a smaller shoe it is merely necessary to draw together the ends of the legs, and when the heel has been nailed in place, the excess length of the legs may be trimmed off. Practically no trimming of the outside of the heel will be required.

The heel, being of Ushape, will require less stock to manufacture than a solid heel. There is, however, a tendency for dirt to stick between the legs of the U, but to prevent this I preferably direct the inside of the heel inwardly and upwardly. There are then no sharp corners in which dirt is likely to remain.

To cause the heel to tend to stick to -the shoe while being nailed in position, I forma channel 3 in its upper side of substantially the same shape in plan as the heel. This channel is preferably formed by concaving the upper surface of the heel. heel is placed in position and given one or more sharp knocks a vacuum is created beneath the heel which causes the edges of the heel to cling to the surface to which it is applied.

At the bottom of the channel I form a series of projections 4., which projections, as will be seen from Fig. 4, do not extend quite as high as the plane of the upper surface of the heel.

The heel is provided with the usual washers 5 against which the heads of the securing nails may engage, and in the under side of the shoeopposite the holes in the washers are formed nail holes 6. These nail holes 6 are also preferably formed centrally of the pro jections 4, so that the securing nails will be driven through the projections. If, however, the shoe surface to which the tread is to be applied has an uneven surface, this would ordinarily be imparted to the surface of the heel, but this may be easily overcome by driving down on one or more of the nails as may be necessary to compress the projections beneath to a sufficient extent to secure a flat floor-engaging surface while suliicient vacuum will remain in the recess to tend to cause the edges of the heel to cling to the shoe surface.

The under side of the heel may be plain, but I prefer to provide it with ribs 7 of any desired formation to prevent slipping.

It will be evident, of course, that a certain measure of utility may be obtained if the legs of the U be connected by a flexible strip 8 as indicated in Fig. 3 so long as it did not interfere to any material extent With the drawing together of the legs.

From the above description it will be seen that I have devised a heel and sole which will satisfactorily attain the object of my invention as set out in the preamble of this specification.

What I claim as my invention is 1. A shoe tread of resilient material having a channel U-shaped in plan in its upper surface following the curvature of the outside of the tread, and a channel in its under surface positioned mainly within a line projected to the under surface of the tread from When the the inner wall of the U-shaped channel and projections extending up from the bottom of the channel in the upper side of the tread, the tops of said projections being below the plane in which the upper edges of the tread lie.

2. A shoe tread of resilient material having a channel U-shaped in plan in its upper surface following the curvature of the outside of the tread, and a channel in its under surface positioned mainly within a line projected to the under surface of the tread from the inner wall of the U-shaped channel and projections extending up from the bottom of the channel in the upper side of the tread, the tops of said projections being below the plane in which the upper edges of the tread lie, the bottom surface of the tread having nail holes therein each arranged substantially centrally of a projection.

Signed at Toronto, Canada, this 10th day of July, 1923.

WALTER H. CLA/RKE. 

